1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an axle which is used to connect the lower sections of the leg portions of a bicycle fork in order to increase the torsional stiffness of the fork.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The following 10 patents and published patent applications are the closest prior art references to the present invention.
1. U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,390 issued to Michael Gonzales on Feb. 27, 1996 for “Quick Release Mechanism For Securing Parts To Bicycles” (hereafter the “Gonzales Patent”);
2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,511 issued to David K. McMurtrey et al. and assigned to Wald Manufacturing Co., Inc. on Jul. 2, 1996 for “Bicycle Hub Cone Nut Locking Arrangement” (hereafter the “McMurtrey Patent”);
3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,925 issued to Christopher R. Stewart on Oct. 7, 1997 for “Quick Release Skewer System” (hereafter the “Stewart Patent”);
4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,104 issued to Valentino Campagnolo and assigned to Campagnolo S.r.l. on Dec. 7, 1999 for “Device For Rotatably Supporting A Hub Of A Bicycle Wheel” (hereafter the “Campagnolo Patent”);
5. U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,378 issued to Michael C. Dougherty et al. and assigned to Impact Forge, Inc. on May 9, 2000 for “Taperlock Axle Apparatus And Flange” (hereafter the “Dougherty Patent”);
6. U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,803 issued to Eric E. Lalikyan et al. and assigned to Answer Products, Inc. on Jul. 2, 2002 for “Front Fork For Cycles” (hereafter the “Lalikyan Patent”);
7. U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,199 issued to Steve W. Creek et al. and assigned to General Motors Corporation on Jun. 3, 2003 for “Flanged Tubular Axle Shaft Assembly” (hereafter the “Creek Patent”);
8. U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,711 issued to Kun-Ten Chen on Jul. 14, 1992 for “Bicycle Free-Wheel” (hereafter the “711 Chen Patent”);
9. U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,037 issued to Hurbert Chen and assigned to Kun Teng Industry Co., Ltd. on Nov. 25, 2003 for “Hub And Axle Assembly For A Bicycle” (hereafter the “037 Chen Patent”);
10. U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,894 issued to Takanori Kanehisa et al. and assigned to Shimano, Inc. on May 3, 2005 for “Bicycle Hub Axle” (hereafter the “Kanehisa Patent”).
The Gonzales Patent discloses a quick release mechanism for securing an axle of a bicycle to the frame. Specifically, the arms of the front fork 13 and 14 have the axle 12 extending between them. The quick release mechanism which is designated generally by the numeral 21 includes an elongated secure element 22 which extends coaxially through axle 12 and has a threaded portion 23 toward one end and an elongated head portion 24 toward the other end. The fastening element in the form of a nut 26 is mounted on the skewer to secure the hub assembly 11 to the fork upon rotation in a first direction and to release the assembly 11 from the fork upon rotation in the opposite direction. The hub secured to the fork arm 13 is clamped between nuts 26 and 19 and arm 14 is clamped between head portion 24 and 19. This patent discusses a having a conically tapered body with an o-ring 59 mounted in the peripheral groove in the side wall thereof.
The McMurtrey Patent is a bicycle hub cone nut locking arrangement. There is a front hub assembly of a bicycle wheel having an improved cone nut locking mechanism which includes a hub body having a bore therethrough and an axle extending through the bore having threaded ends. FIG. 1 shows the front hub assembly of a bicycle wheel having the improved cone nut locking mechanism of the present invention. Hub assembly 10 includes a hub body 12 with a center section 14 and hub flanges 16 positioned at either end of the center section 14. Hub body 12 has an internal bore 17 therethrough which extends through the center section 14 and through openings in each flange 16. An axle 18 extends longitudinally through bore 17 with body 12 and extends through the flange openings and past the ends of the flange. Each flange 16 forms and outer bearing race 19 which receives circular bearing structures 20 therein. Bearing structure 20 surrounds the axle 18. Cone nuts 22, 24 are threaded onto the threaded ends or end sections 26, 28, respectively, of axle 18. The cone nuts 22, 24 include inner bearing races 29 which cooperate with outer bearing races 19 to hold the ball bearing structures 20 within the hub body 12 so that body 12 may rotate around axle 18. Cone nuts 22, 24 are threaded onto threaded ends 26,28 until they reach the respective first resistance portion or section 30 and second resistance portion or section 32.
The Stewart Patent is a quick release skewer mechanism which consists of a connecting rod and an expandable retaining nut on the other end to attach the axle to the dropouts. Specifically, “FIG. 1 illustrates a bicycle axle/quick release skewer system 1 consisting of a central connecting rod 2, a lever actuated cam assembly 3 at one end of the connecting rod, and an expandable retaining nut 4 at the opposite end of the rod 2. The mid-section of retaining rod 2 is encased in a hollow center tubular shaft 5, which includes lock nuts 6a and cone nuts 6b at either end. The tubular shaft 5 is shorter than the connecting rod 2, so that both ends of the connecting rod 2 protrude from the ends of the tubular shaft 5.
“As best illustrated in FIGS. 3-5, the retaining nut 4 is expandable in the axial direction. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the expandable retaining nut 4 of the present invention includes a T-nut member 20 and an annular collar member 21. The T-nut member 20 is comprised of a cylindrical body portion 22 and opposed radially extending arms 23. The cylindrical body portion 22 includes an internal threaded channel 24 designed to threadably receive the protruding threaded end of the connecting rod 2. Preferably, the internal threaded channel 24 is fitted with a rotation resistant device, such as a nylon insert of the type sold under the trademark “Nylock” (not shown). With such rotation resistant devices, while the T-nut can be screwed on and off the threaded connecting rod 2, the Nylock insert prevents accidental rotation of the T-nut, such as is sometimes caused during the expansion or contraction of the retaining nut 4.
Finally, the axle/skewer 1 must be clamped tightly and securely on the bicycle fork dropouts 8. To do this, the operator simply pivots the cam lever 12 from position 12b to 12a, which returns the cap 9 from position 13b to 13a. With the cam assembly 3 in this position, the gaps 7a and 7b are returned to their original widths, causing the bicycle fork dropouts 8 to be tightly clamped between the retaining nut 4 and spacer nuts 6a, on the other hand, and between the cam assembly 3 and spacer nut 6a on the other hand.”
The Campagnolo Patent discloses a device for rotatably supporting a hub of a bicycle wheel on a shaft which includes at least one annular element with an outer conical surface which is pressed between the outer surface of the shaft and the inner conical surface of the inner ring of a rolling bearing. Referring to FIG. 5, the hub 1 is rotatably supported on a shaft 6. Referring to FIG. 3, on one end of the shaft, there is a portion 18 having a conical surface cooperating with a corresponding conical surface 19 formed in the inner surface of the inner ring 12a of the bearing 12. When the conical annular element 13 is pushed up to its operative position, the axial force imparted to bearing 11 is transmitted by hub 1 to bearing 12 so that inner ring 12a of the later engages on the conical surface 18 of the shaft 6 thus providing a safe clamping also for bearing 12. “When ring nut 16 is screwed until it pushes the conical annular element 13 to its operative position, it can be locked in this position. To this end, the ring nut 16 has a slot 16a and is provided with a clamping tangential screw 16b which can be tightened to lock the ring nut 16 by friction in the reached position. Naturally, instead of this arrangement, it is possible to adopt any other clamping and locking means, such as a ring nut with an additional lock nut or a self-locking ring nut.”
The Lalikyan Patent discloses an axle with non-rounded enlarged ends which attach to a corresponding non-rounded portion of a lower fork leg to prevent the two fork legs from torsionally rotating relative to each other. By making the ends of the axle a non-rounded shape, there is a better steering mechanism, which also avoids the possibility of slip between fork legs and axle. However, a drawback of the Lalikyan Patent is that non-round ends of the axle are not tapered. Further, the dropout, which accommodates the non-round ends, has a slot 48 that extends upwardly in communication with the dropout opening 40. Therefore it is necessary for the Lalikyan Patent to have additional transverse clamping bolts 50, which are used to tighten the bifurcated portions 22c and 22d of the dropout toward each other, thereby to clamp the enlarged non-round end 6a of the axle within the dropout opening 40.
The Dougherty Patent is described as a taperlock axle apparatus and flange. This discloses “a flange and shaft for a two-piece forged axle and method for forging same. The flange includes a hub formed concentric about a longitudinal axis wherein the hub defines an inner annular face, an outer annular face, and a bore extending there between. The bore includes a first tapered surface diverging from the longitudinal axis. The flange further includes an annular ring coaxial and integral with the hub as well as locking arrangement integral with the tapered surface for mechanically coupling the flange for rotation with a shaft.” Referring to FIG. 2, the shaft is 12 and the flange is 14 and there is a tapered interface 16 circumscribing shaft proximate to the first shaft 18. In this case the patent shows the concept of a flange which is connected to a shaft to form an axle wherein the flange includes a first tapered surface extending from the cylindrical surface toward the second annular face and diverging from said longitudinal axis of the shaft which is formed within the flange.
The Creek Patent discloses a flanged tubular axle shaft assembly. Specifically this discloses “a flanged axle shaft assembly includes a shaft having a tubular wall and an open end, a flange hub having a central opening fitted over the shaft and secured to the open end, and wall into compressive engagement with the flange hub opening to provide for transmission of forces between the shaft and the flange hub.” There is shown a flange actual shaft assembly 10 which includes a tubular shaft 12 a flange hub 14 mounted on the open outer end 16 of the shaft and an end wedge 18 secured in the open end 16. The end wedge expands the tubular wall 19 of the shaft into compressive engagement with a central opening 20 and the flange hub 14 to provide a mechanical connection that supports transmission of substantial torsional and axial forces between the shaft and the flange. A portion of the outer end is flared radially outward at 28 to provide an end stop.
The 711 Chen Patent discloses an assembly for a bicycle free-wheel which deals with two opposite securing members 134 and 336 as shown in FIG. 1. “Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a free-wheel for a bicycle rear wheel includes a shaft 12 and a tubular hub member 10 rotatably sleeved around the shaft 12 and having a first and a second end 10′, 10″. The first end 10′ of the hub member 10 has a ball recess 13 formed thereon. A bearing assembly received in the ball recess 13 includes a ball casing 131, a ball seat with balls 132, a dust protector unit 133, a securing member 134, a washer unit 135, and a nut 136. The downwardly extending flange 14 having a plurality of recesses 141 formed thereon.”
The 037 Chen Patent discloses a hub and axle assembly for a bicycle. This was cited because of left and right mounting sleeve members 33. “Left and right mounting sleeve members 33 are sleeved on the axle 20. Each of the left and right mounting sleeve members 33 has a curved surrounding race portion 331 which is disposed proximate to and which is spaced apart from a respective one of the left and right surrounding shoulders 111 along an inclined line that forms an acute angle with the axis of the axle 20, and a surrounding abutment portion 332 opposite to the surrounding race portion 331 and proximate to a respective one of the left and right lateral ends 113, 114.”
Finally, the Kanehisa Patent which is issued to Shimano, Inc. discloses a bicycle hub axle. Referring to FIG. 2, the hub axle nut 46 is hard, rigid one piece unitary member that includes a threaded bore 46a. The threaded bore 46a is threadedly engaged with the threaded section 51b of the shaft portion 51 that secures the bicycle hub axle assembly 31 to the bicycle frame 16. However, the overall design from FIG. 2 as well as FIG. 3 is different. It does include the threaded nut but it does not have the concept of the non-round split tapered locking assembly.
There is a significant need to significantly improve the axle with nut and bolt through it so as to improve the torsional strength of the bicycle fork and facilitate ease of the axle installation for bicycles.